Just weeks after Warner Bros announced a complete cast list for their 2016 Suicide Squad release, Tom Hardyhas dropped a Bane sized bombshell on everyone and announced that he has officially left the production and will absolutely not be starring as villainous group leader, Rick Flagg. His exit is reported as not being down to any sort of ‘creative differences’ but down to two other conflicting film schedules. Yep, that old chestnut.

The long (long) awaited comic book adaptation from DC scheduled to start filming later this year and directed by David Ayer will see the squad – which comprises of incarcerated supervillains- carry out high-risk missions to save humanity without any assistance from superheroes. The cast includes Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Will Smith, Jai Courtney and model-turned actress Cara Delevigne as the team of villains who, under the watchful eye of Amanda Waller (yet to be cast) have been granted freedom in exchange for risking their lives in situations deemed suicide missions when called upon. Sounds fair.

The Drop actor, as we reported in December, is currently in Calgary shooting Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s exciting new western thriller The Revenant which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio and is scheduled for release on December 25th 2015. The film was scheduled to wrap in time for him to jump straight in to the Suicide Squad but it now appears that production will go on for much longer than originally planned making it impossible to fulfil a DC contract. The second blow comes in the form of the promotional responsibilities for one of 2015’s most eagerly awaited cinematic releases Mad Max: Fury Road in which he plays the title role along-side Zoe Kravitz, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Keays-Byrne. The 5th May release will take the cast around the world from April onwards, rendering Tom Hardy as unavailable right in the middle of Suicide Squad filming which starts in Toronto from early April.

HOWEVER! All hope is not lost. Warner Bros have wasted no time in drying their tears away and have announced another big name almost immediately for the part following the departure – enter Jake Gyllenhaal. Surprisingly, the Nightcrawler actor has been named as the man they want to fill Rick Flagg’s shoes. That said, he has only been given an offer to replace Hardy but it is unclear as to whether or not his schedules will also conflict with the production. Jake Gyllenhaal has worked with Ayer in the past on the critically acclaimed thriller End of Watch but is currently starring on Broadway in his play Constellations which at present, is set to run until mid-March (with a possible extension) and with the DC feature set to start shooting just weeks later, it is unlikely that the versatile, award winning actor will have a realistic amount of prep time for such a long, action packed shoot.

Phew! We can’t keep up! What do you think to Tom Hardy’s departure? Is it still on your list of films to see in 2016? Would Jake Gyllenhaal be an acceptable replacement for Rick Flagg? Let us know below.

Suicide Squad is scheduled for release via Warner Bros on August 6th 2016.